


second draft

by galaxyeyedrops



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-07 12:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8801047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyeyedrops/pseuds/galaxyeyedrops
Summary: fan theory: houjou emu is one of the infected





	

**Author's Note:**

> im sorry this is a mess, i wanted to post before episode 10

Eiko Houjou leans back with a sigh. The project that the Foundation had commissioned her for was more or less done. 

Now to start the debugging process… 

“Ah, is that your program?” A voice asks, as a tiny head peers over her shoulder.

Eiko smiles and spins her chair to face her son. 

“Yup.“ She says, popping the last consonant. “Mommy’s hard work is coming to a finish!”

Emu’s eyes light up immediately. “So you can tell me what it is now?

“No can do, kiddo.” She replies, poking him on the tip of his nose. “It's a  _ secret~ _ ”

Emu pouts and she ruffles his hair. “Don't look like that,” she says. “I'll definitely let you in on it when you're older.”

“How much older?“

“Hmm,” Eiko taps her chin. “How about middle school age?”

“But that's  _ forever _ ,” Emu whines. “I'll be like a grown up by then.”

“Maybe you could try growing up faster?” 

Emu’s frown deepens. “I dunno if it works like that.”

“You’re probably right,” Eiko concedes with a smile. “Tell you what, if you're extra good this week, I'll teach you how to write your own program.”

“Really?“

“Really really.” She says, holding out a pinky. 

Emu holds out his own, linking it with hers. 

It's a promise. 

 

“One… one… nine…”

Emu’s hands shake and tremble. He dials each digit with a little too much force, vocalizing each number. 

And he breathes ( _ can't breathe, please answer _ ).

The footsteps draw closer, each one louder than the last. 

They are slow, yes, but distinct. Well paced, each one a set amount of seconds apart from the other. Rhythmic, matching every third beat of his heart perfectly. 

Until they don't. 

The sound stops. The footsteps stops. His heart stops along with them. 

Emu turns around. 

The phone falls from slack fingers and clatters to the floor. 

“1-1-9,” the voice over the phone asks. “What's your emergency?”

 

Dr. Hinata’s hands are steady. 

The patient's vitals fluctuate, his skin is feverish. 

Even if the surgery is successful, the patient’s immune system will still take a hit. There's a chance, a large one, that whatever illness they carried him in with will finish him off right after. 

Dr. Hinata’s hands are steady. 

 

Emu bites his lip, his gaze drifting between his two final options.

His aunt waits outside the store, visible through the glass door, bags by her feet, her own shopping clearly done. Emu can practically hear her feet tapping.

(While she was nice enough to take him in after the car accident, that didn’t mean she was patient.)

Emu sighs.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he quickly grabs a copy of  Brave Tamer off the shelf and brings it up to the payment counter before he can change his mind.

The cashier rings out his purchase, stopping her practiced speech when she notices his age.

Thankful, Emu takes out his wallet, removing most of its contents and depositing them on the counter. 

He stretches out his arm to grab his bag, but turns instead when he notices something out of the corner of his eye.

“A game tournament?” He asks, looking at the flyer on the wall.

“Are you interested?” The cashier takes an extra off the counter, and handing it to Emu so he can read properly.

“It’s next Sunday,” she says, leaning on the counter to get to eye-level. “You hear about the new Playstation machines?“

“A bit.”

“Well,” she whispers mock conspiratorially. “We're still out of stock right now, but the boss bought an extra for stuff like this.”

“We've even got a couple of the new games to play too. ” She points to a couple of characters on the flyer. “Tekken’s our main one.”

Emu fidgets, clearly interested but taking a couple of side glances at his aunt outside. “I'm not sure if I should…” He trails off, lapsing into silence. 

“Think about it,” she says, after a second, motioning him to keep the flyer. “There's plenty of time to sign up.”

 

The Tokyo Game Show comes around once a year and Emu makes sure to attend it whenever he can. 

He usually hits up the big developer booths first, stopping for a bit at the foreign games ones, and rounding it up with a peek at the indies and upcoming accessories. 

This year, however, is different. This year he's making a beeline for Genm. 

Genm, you see, is a fairly new studio, but it's far from unheard of. 

Their style, if you could call it one, is mostly based on making retro styled games using modern engines. 

Its far from an original concept, Emu can name a least fifteen developers off the top of his head that do the same thing, but the thing is that Genm does it well, and consistently well. 

Every one of their games so far has been pretty good. Quick loading times. Great soundtracks. Polished menus. Well mapped controls. 

Emu can go on and on. 

Now, they're not exactly Game of The Year material, but they are, without a doubt, solid. 

Not a single release has been a dud. 

Within a few years, they've made a reputation for themselves, in a fraction of the time others would take. 

And to add to that, they were ambitious. On the first day of the the convention, when access was restricted to businessmen and journalists, they had announced ten upcoming games. 

Ten different games in ten different genres. All planned for release within the next two years. 

And from what he's heard, they’ve already a demo version at their booth to try out. 

 

**Double-jump.**

**Jump again to dodge.**

**Switch weapon type and-**

The system shuts off. Within seconds there are people behind him in line, groaning. Emu comes back to himself, apologetic. 

“I'm sorry! Did I hit something I shouldn't have?“

The staff member waves him off. 

“Don't worry,” they say. “It's probably an overload or something.”

They quickly mark it as out of order, assuring the crowd that it'll be fixed as soon as possible, reminding them to enjoy themselves. 

Emu, himself, heads off the Atlus booth, his eyes quickly losing their red glow. 

 

Dan Kuroto’s main scenario writer gets sick. 

He messages him, telling Dan that'll he'll be fine, telling him not to worry. 

A week passes. Dan worries. 

He calls his employee. The scenario writer, coughing with each breath, tells him, once again, that he's fine. 

Dan visits him, carrying a fruit basket on an arm. 

The door, strangely, is wide open. Dan knocks, calls out to his employee. 

There is no response. 

He takes a step inside. 

 

 

The police are quick to arrive at the scene. 

They ask him to describe what he saw, ( _ no seriously what did you really see, this isn't a joke) _ , pushing for details he doesn't have, denying ones he does. 

They wipe their hands clean of him soon enough, deciding to themselves that he's in shock. 

They tell to go home and relax, that they'll open a new missing persons case. 

Dan does not relax. He does not forget. 

The next day, he hires a new scenario writer. 

The day after that, a man named Pallad becomes, more or less, a permanent fixture in his office. 

 

Kyoutaro Hinata is not the first to notice the pattern. 

He is, however, is the first person that can really do anything about it. 

A list of missing people, a list of monster sightings, a pile of medical reports, of injuries sustained by the former’s loved ones. 

All three sit side by side on his new desk. 

Kyoutaro sighs. 

And thinks of those bruises that boy, Emu, had after his “car accident”. 

 

 

“And that is?”

“The Gamer Driver,” Dan replies. Idly, he runs a finger down the ridges of the device, his index finger sinking into the slot for the gashat. “I thought I might as well complete the original program objective— to use it to empower humans.”

“And her?” Pallad points at a pink haired figure resembling Doremi Beats’ mascot character. 

She stand unassisted, eyes wide open, but shows no response to the conversation around her. 

“Also part of my research into the program. She's a few steps away from being a bugster, but with some time, she'll be just as sentient.”

 

Taiga Hanaya storms out of the building without even bothering to go back for his belongings. 

Hiiro Kagami walks in with a practiced calmness and asks for the procedure. 

 

“What we need isn't a doctor.”

Pallad looks up from his game, eyeing Dan with interest. 

“What we need is a playtester.” Dan continues, moving his hand down towards his desk, bringing attention to the files displayed on top. 

Among them is one labeled “Genius Gamer M”.   
  
  


Bonus:

“You're the one who did it,” Kujo Kiriya says, relishing in the moment. “You took a dying eight year old and made him your soldier.”

Kyoutaro looks at Emu. 

He's shaking. 

(Horrified. Confused.  _ Betrayed _ .)   
And nods his assent. 


End file.
